The Elementary Years: Second Grade
by brenthforever
Summary: AU This is year 2 of the squint squad's journey through school. Last year we met everyone, descovered some past problems, and glimpsed the future. This year we meet Lance Sweets and delve more into how they became the Booth Bones and co. we know and love.
1. Chapter 1

Well, its been two months of hellish writers block for me and anxious anticipation for you. (I hope.) But here it is: The Elementary Years: Second Grade

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Eight year old Temperance Brennan stood looking over her abysmal clothes closet. She picked up her favorite shirt from last year and held it up to her frame. Too small. Most of her school clothes, which had been packed away for the summer, were all suddenly too small.

"I need to go shopping." She muttered to her self. School started in one week and poor little Tempe had nothing to wear. Tempe had gone through her first growth spurt over the summer and now she was about even in height with her best friend Seeley Booth.

Booth. Just thinking the name brought back memories. First grade had certainly been an adventure. Tempe and her best girlfriend Angela Montenegro had been quiet little girls, until the Booths moved in across the street.

What had started out as a game of cops and robbers had turned into a very strong friendship that, Tempe hoped, wouldn't ever be broken.

Booth had been just what Tempe needed to open up. Through him they had met Jack Hodgins and then a few months later Jacks family adopted a little boy named Zach Addy.

It was a messy affair that left both Jack and Zach more than a little shook up, but also it brought them closer than two brothers could ever hope to be.

Yes there had been some bad times too, like on Booth's first day, a 3rd grader named Tim "Sully" Sullivan had teased him and actually been the first one to call him Booth.

Sully and his friend Cam had been horrible to the whole group from that day on, until one snowy day around Christmas and Cam had a change of heart.

Cam was now a close friend and mentor of both Tempe and Angela, and Sully had changed Schools last May, so that saga of their lives had ended.

Since then the entire gang had grown, matured and moved on to second grade. Tempe was pulled out of her memories by the sound of the door bell ringing down stairs.

"Mail's here!" Russ called up the stairs. He had started to distance himself from her now that he was going into 4th grade and little sisters were not cool anymore.

Tempe rushed down and rifled through the pile on the counter. Near the bottom she found what she had been looking for, a post card from Booth.

Dear Tempe,

Hi! It's been so long since I've seen you! I miss you and everyone else too. This cruse is really fun, my dad taught me how to dive in the pool, and I met a lot of his work friends. I can't wait to get back and for school to start. See you soon.

Booth

For the last 3 weeks Booth had been away with his family on an annual FBI vacation cruse. His father and all other senior agents had been given free staterooms for the month long cruse and Booth had been very excited to see a real cruse ship.

He had promised to write to her once a week and she had the other two post cards tacked up in her room.

The last one had a picture of Booth and his father having a water gun fight. This one showed Booth in between his father and another man Tempe had never seen. There was a note scrawled on the bottom.

'This is Don Eppes; he's my dad's friend from the academy. Him and his brother teamed up and use math to solve crimes. I think you would like him.'

Tempe studied the man and decided that she would like to meet him some time. She then placed the post card next to the other ones on her bulletin board. Tempe then ventured to the kitchen and found her mother, Christine Brennan, baking cookies.

"Yum." Tempe reached for one only to have her mother swat her hand away. "These are for the new family down the street."

"New family?" Tempe asked now attempting to lick the spoon, which her mother reluctantly relinquished.

"Yes the old Houser place sold last week and the family are moving in today. I thought it would be nice to welcome them. Who knows you might make another little friend." She said referring to how Tempe met Booth.

"Do they have kids?" Tempe asked

"I think so." Christine answered firmly pulling the spoon away from her daughter who now had cookie dough all over her face. "Two girls and a little boy, I think he's going into first grade. The girls are twins in high school. Wipe your face." Tempe stuck out her tongue and giggled. She skipped away to wash up.

Half an hour later she had dressed her self in one of the few outfits she still had that fit reasonably well and was following her mother to the ancient stone house that sat across the street and 4 houses down from her own.

The large front porch was barren except for a few card board boxes and Tempe began to get the strangest feeling of déjà vu.

"Hello?" Mrs. Brennan called knocking on the open front door.

"Hello!" came a call from behind them. Tempe turned to see a small boy and a man who she presumed was his father. They both had dark hair and the boy had adorable little dimples.

"Oh hello." Mrs. Brennan walked up to them and Tempe followed, her eyes never leaving the boy. "I'm Christine Brennan, we live up the street." She extended her hand.

The man shook it and answered. "Nice to meet you. I'm Anthony Sweets and this little shy guy is Lance. Lance is starting second grade next week." Mr. Sweets smiled but Lance looked positively terrified that the conversation had turned to him.

"So is Temperance." Mrs. Brennan said giving Tempe a little push.

"Hi." She waved shyly.

Lance nodded but said nothing.

Just then a green explorer pulled into the drive way and three blonde women stepped out.

The two younger ones began unloading the car pulling out bags of groceries to be brought inside. The older woman walked up and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Abigail Sweets."

"Honey this is Christine Brennan and her daughter Temperance. They live up the road." Anthony introduced his family. "This is my wife and these," He said gesturing to the two girls walking up, are my daughters." They both smiled and held out hands politely.

"Hi, I'm Heather." Said the taller of the two.

"I'm Lea, Nice to meet you." Said the shorter one. She turned to her brother. "Lance did anyone call?"

Tempe heard Lance speak for the first time. "Yes, there was a call for you. Someone named Jeremy something" He shrugged.

Lea squealed and ran inside. Heather laughed and followed.

"Our daughters were not happy to move. They both left boyfriends behind. But we hope they both change their minds soon." Abigail smiled. "Won't you come in for lunch?"

"Oh that reminds me, here these are for you. Welcome to the neighborhood."

She handed the platter of cookies to Mrs. Sweets. "I'm sorry to have to decline your invitation, Tempe needs school clothes." Mrs. Brennan smiled. "It was wonderful meeting you all, and I'm sure Tempe will be happy to show Lance around and introduce him at school. Right sweetie?"

"Sure Mommy." She smiled at Lance. "I'll see you at school.

"Bye then. And thanks for the cookies." Mrs. Sweets waved as Tempe and her mother turned and began walking back home.

"So, how do you like Lance?" Mrs. Brennan asked.

"Oh, I don't know. He's nice but he seems really shy." Tempe shrugged.

"Well he's new, I'm sure he'll open up. Lets go shopping." Christine laughed.

"OK!" Tempe exclaimed.

--

Ok so now we meet sweets and his two sisters who I have no idea if they really exist, but I think he acts like he is the youngest and only boy. I don't think Heather and Lea will be big characters but who knows. I really will try to update on a regular basis and make my chapters longer, so read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok so much for updating regularly. First I was sick and then my internet died and then my muse was kidnapped by my other story that I had an insane amount of inspiration for. Anyway the point is I'M REALLY SORRY!!!! Waaaaaaaaaa. Forgive me?

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A few days later Tempe had decided what to wear and had everything she needed for second grade laid out on her dresser.

She had picked a purple shirt with little flowers on it and some new jeans. She wanted to wear her new sneakers too, but now she thought that sandals might fit better, so now she was wearing the outfit and had one of each shoe on her feet.

"Eni, meeni, mini, mo." Tempe whispered. Then she groaned and fell back on the bed. 'I have to ask Angela.' She thought.

Angela was also away with her parents. They were going to the mountains for a week of skiing together before Angela started school, and her dad had a month long business trip. Ange said they were going to some place in Vermont that she liked. Temps had, had a very boring week with out her friends.

The Hodgins' were in their vacation home in the country. Jack had written her a few times, saying meaningless things that all added up to 'Wish you were here.'

They were all supposed to get back tomorrow and Tempe was waiting excitedly.

She had seen Lance a few times since and he seemed to be loosening up a bit around her. She really hoped that everyone liked him. He seemed like a very nice boy.

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The following Tuesday Tempe woke up bright and early to get ready. She dressed herself in the outfit she had picked a week prior and added the shoes Angela agreed fit better; they had ended up choosing the sandals.

She bushed her hair and carefully clipped in a purple hair clip to keep it out of her face. Then she picked up the friendship ring Angela had given her for her birthday. It didn't really match but Tempe decided to wear it anyway.

After quickly scarfing down some breakfast, she and Russ walked to the bus. Mrs. Brennan agreed to let them go by themselves as long as both of them were there. Tempe saw Angela coming out of her front door with her mother, and ran to meet her.

Both girls squealed in excitement and hugged each other tightly.

"Tempe I missed you so much! Here, I got you something." Angela held out a bag with a bright pink ribbon on it.

Tempe curiously opened it and inside was a little snow globe with a replica of a mountain bear that seemed to be lost. There was a little street sign in front of him and the figure was scratching its head.

"Aww Ange its adorable. Thanks." They walked to the end of the road together and Tempe saw Lance with both of his sisters.

He saw her coming and waved, then blushed when he noticed Angela.

"Angela come here, this is Lance Sweets, he just moved in up the street. And those are his sisters Lea" She pointed to Heather. "And Heather." She pointed to Lea.

Both girls roared with laughter and Lance cracked a smile.

Angela looked lost and Tempe was confused.

"She pulled a Miss. Ellis." Heather giggled.

"I don't know what that means." Tempe said.

Lea took pity. "Our third grade math teacher couldn't tell us apart. She would always call me Heather and her Lea."

"How did she learn the difference?" Angela asked now giggling along with them.

"Easy." Lea said. "Heather's crazy." Even Lance laughed at that.

Heather hit her sister. There was a loud smack.

"Ouch." Said a voice behind Tempe. "That looked like it hurt."

She turned and saw Booth standing there with a great tan and his favorite lunch box clasped tightly in his hand.

"Booth! I missed you so much!" Tempe threw her arms around him.

"I missed you all too." He noticed Lance. "Who are you?"

"Lance Sweets. I'm new." Lance smiled.

"I'm Heather." Heather said. "That's Lea."

"Are you ok?" Booth asked Lea.

"What," She looked confused. Then she remembered Heathers smack. "Oh I'm fine don't worry."

"Yeah she like doesn't feel pain I think she has CIPA." Lance said

"What's CIPA?"

"Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis." The entire Sweets family chorused.

"That was strange" Jack said as he made his way to Angela giving her a firm hug before greeting everyone.

"Jack!" Booth smiled. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing much." Jack answered

"Where's Zach?" Tempe asked.

Jack looked around mystified. "He was right behind me." Then he spotted Zach and Lance whispering something to each other.

"Awww, Zach made a friend." Angela cooed.

Their group laughed.

The bus pulled up a short wile later and all eight of them managed to get seated before it zoomed off again. Once they were close to the school, Lea and Heather began to but Lance.

"Do you have your lunch money?" Heather asked.

"Make sure you get to class on time." Lea said.

"Don't talk back to the teacher." Heather added.

"Have a good day." Lea finished.

"Yes mothers." Lance rolled his eyes.

"Bye Lancey have a good day." The twins departed heading for the High School campus across the street.

"Lancey?" Tempe asked.

Lance blushed "Shut up."

"Come on we'll help you find your room. Booth said.

Lance followed the group to the hall way of second grade rooms. He pulled out a sheet of paper and read the name. "I'm in Mrs. Gomez's class.

"Oh sorry," Tempe patted him on the back. "Russ, my brother, had her and said she was horrible."

"Is she the lady that looks like a fish?" Angela asked. Tempe nodded and burst out laughing.

"Who do you guys have?" asked. They all pulled out sheets from their back packs and compared them.

Zach was also in Mrs. Gomez's class and that seemed to relieve Lance.

Angela and Booth were in Mrs. Brison's room and Tempe and Jack had Mrs. Collins across the hall.

"Aww, I hoped we would all be in the same class again." Angela pouted.

"We're right across the hall" Jack put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, and we all have lunch together." Booth said coming to her other side.

"And recess. Don't forget about recess." Tempe completed the circle.

"Hey what are we obsolete coefficients?" Zach asked. Apparently it was some kind of nerd humor because Lance howled with laughter.

"Well anyway the point is we're all right here. K?" Jack said reassuringly.

Angela held her head up and smiled. "Yeah you're right."

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Here see I write big long chapter for an apology. Really I am sorry.


	3. Chapter 3

REEEEEEAAAAALLLLYYYY LONG GAP is once again apologized for. Read chapter review chapter and i will gladly lock myself in a room to write the next one. 

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Zach and Lance walked into the room to the right and Tempe turned to see Angela and Booth walking into the one across the hall. Tempe and Jack turned to their left and walked into the room with large bright letters over the door reading "Welcome to second grade!"

They were relatively early so the room was almost empty. Tempe looked around and saw cubbies and desks that looked exactly like the ones she was used to.

A woman with short black hair walked up to them. She was fairly short and wore a bright pink cardigan. "Hello, I'm Mrs. Collins."

Tempe noticed she had on a chunky earth tone necklace. "Hi, I'm Tempe Brennan, I like your necklace."

Mrs. Collins placed a hand on her necklace. "Thank you, I got it from a woman who sells hand crafts in Rwanda."

"That's in Africa right?" Jack asked.

"Very good, I can see you won't be having any trouble this year." Mrs. Collins smiled at him. "What's your name sweetie" She asked

"Jack Hodgins." Jack said a little shyly.

"Well I'm happy to have both of you in my class this year. You can sit any where you want." She turned to greet some newcomers.

Tempe looked over the layout of desks. They were all facing the same direction and in three rows of two desks.

'If we sit in the front, we'll look like geeks, but if we sit in the back we won't be able to see or hear, near the window and I'll daydream about Booth, near the door and I'll try to catch a glimpse of him in the room across the hall.'

Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her to two open desks in the second row near the teacher's desk.

'I guess that works.' She thought giggling silently.

Second Grade was much more fun than first, now that everyone could read, they were able to have a lot more fun projects.

Mrs. Collins spent most of the morning explaining how the class would go.

Jack and Tempe were assigned cubbies right next to each other and when they had finished putting their back packs away Mrs. Collins explained how each of them would get a number. That would be their text book number, their job number and their card number.

Tempe was number three, Jack was number twelve. Then the teacher explained that the job chart on the side wall changed every two weeks. It started out with numbers one through eight having jobs like homework collector and fish feeder.

Tempe looked up and saw that her name was next to the words, attendance taker. Mrs. Collins explained each job and when Tempe's job came up she was excited to learn, not only did she get to take roll, she also was in charge of bringing the completed sheet down to the front office.

Mrs. Collins asked Tempe to bring the day's complete attendance down to the office while the rest of the class put their assigned books in their desks.

"I'll get yours for you." Jack whispered as she got up.

Tempe walked out of the door and nearly ran right into some one.

"Oh sorry," She said and kept her head down. She started to walk again when the person said her name.

"Tempe?" She looked up.

"Booth!" Tempe felt her cheeks tingle as a huge smile lit up her face. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm the attendance person for my class. What are you doing?"

"Same thing. Do you guys have numbers too?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm number three." He smiled "Come on we better start walking." Booth held out his hand and Tempe took it.

She felt her heart rate speed up and fought to keep her breathing normal. Both of them remembered where the office was from their trip on the first day of last year.

The trip was too short in Tempe's mind. They chatted about their teachers and how the day was going.

"How's Angela holding up?" Tempe asked smiling.

"She clung to my sleeve for like ten minutes then suddenly was the center of attention. I think Mrs. Brison likes her. She's really nice. I like her accent; I think she's from some where south of here.

"Russ said to ask her to do her German impression. He said it's really funny." Tempe smiled again. She was glad for the time she would get to see Booth in the mornings now.

Once they arrived at the office, they both dropped their slips into the wire basket designated for attendance and slowly started back to class.

Booth snaked his hand around Tempe's again and she interlocked her fingers with his. They tried to walk as slow as they could but inevitably they arrived back at the second grade hall way.

Both stood for a few seconds more before finally hugging and walking their separate ways.

Tempe walked back inside and felt 23 pairs of eyes on her; she quickly went to her seat and whispered to Jack "What did I miss?"

"Not much," He whispered back. "She's about to explain the cards on the wall over there."

He pointed to the far wall near the door. Tempe saw four columns of six card pockets lined up.

"Now as I was saying," Mrs. Collins started. "There are five colors of cards; everyone starts out with green, then orange then blue then yellow and finally red. Each time there is a behavior problem I will simply say to flip a card. There are certain consequences that go along with each color. But if you stay green the whole marking period, you will be invited to the party."

Suddenly the class was abuzz with talk of a party.

Mrs. Collins decided to leave it at that since the lunch bell was about to ring. Jack and Tempe went over to their cubbies to grab their lunch boxes and wait by the door.

A few minutes passed, slowly might I add, and finally the bell sounded. Tempe and Jack joined the rush of students headed toward the lunch room.

They didn't even try to look for any one else yet since attempting to turn around was like swimming up stream. But they continued toward the cafeteria and hoped to meet up soon.

Upon arriving Jack saw Booth at the other end of the room along with Angela. Lance and Zach were no where to be found.

Tempe ran over to Angela and they both started gushing about their new classes and weather they liked the teachers and whatnot.

A teacher none of them recognized made an announcement that because it was a beautiful day out; students were allowed to take their lunches out to the playground where they would have recess after they finished eating.

Booth climbed to the tallest landing just in front of the tube slide and plopped down to eat. Everyone else followed at a slower rate. A few minutes later Angela called out that she saw Zach, looking a little lost amidst the older students.

She called out and he looked around confused for a few minutes before he clearly heard a voice calling his name among the babbling student body.

Locking in on the sound he grabbed Lance's hand and hauled him up to the landing.

"Hi guys!" He said a little breathlessly. "How's your day goin? I love Mrs. Gomez. She says I'm one of the smartest kids she's ever taught." Zach beamed with pride and Jack patted him on the shoulder.

"If only we were really related. I might have some hope of passing." He laughed and so did everyone else. Zach was a little hesitant, he did not like to remember that he was anything else than a Hodgins. It brought up bad memories.

"How is your day going Lance?" Angela asked.

Lance blushed a bit before answering. "Fine."

"Geeze you really are shy." Booth commented causing Lance to blush redder and redder.

"Well, having two older sisters who used you as the baby when they played house will do that to a guy." Lance said looking at his jello. "I hate Grape. Any one wanna trade?" He asked.

Jack pulled out a fruit roll up. "Sure here."

"They still make those?" Tempe asked.

"Yeah I haven't had one since I was like five." Angela added.

Jack shrugged.

Booth laid back… and nearly fell down the slide behind him.

Everyone howled with laughter.

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Crappy ending I know but I really wanna get this up tonight and well, the rest is good. I'm all done with play practice (sob) I love into the woods so much … but on a happier note my muse has returned, I would say ill try to update more frequently but when ever I say that it makes me sorta not…sorry.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After lunch the classes reconvened in their rooms to begin handing out books and other materials. By the time Mrs. Collins was through handing out everything, Tempe's bag was full to bursting with text books, work books, papers, forms and other random brick-a-bract.

After an uneventful end to the day, the entire gang, plus six ready to explode book bags, made their way to the "Big yellow limos" (Thank you House of Night).

The ride was longer than they were used to, but there were a lot of new kids on the bus. Jack looked around at all the new first graders. "Were we ever that small?"

"I don't think so." Booth replied eyeing a particularly small boy with short brown hair and glasses. The boy looked terrified and quickly turned away. "Oh I just remembered, my mom and dad said you guys could come over and play after school."

"Yay party!" Angela said

"Cool, I just gotta ask my mom, I'm sure it'll be fine." Jack said and Zach nodded smiling.

"My mom will probably say yes too, I'll run home and check." Tempe said excited. It had been so long since they had a chance to get together for no reason other than to hang out.

Booth noticed Lance sitting in the window seat of the seat he shared with Zach. "Hey," he said. Lance looked up. "You know you're invited too.

"Oh thanks but, I really should go home, my parents will want to hear all about my first day.

"Oh go hang out with your new friends Lancey!" Heather turned around from her seat in front of her brother.

"Go have fun, we'll tell mom where you are. I'm sure she'll be excited that you already made friends." Lea said then poked Heather and said "Kevin texted you."

Heather turned quickly to read her phone.

"Ok so it's settled then. You're coming." Angela said. She smiled broadly. "One thing, who the heck are the Kevin and Jeremy that our sister keep squealing about?

Lance scowled, then his face brightened. "Their boyfriends. Lea and Jeremy have been dating for about a year and a half now. Heather met Kevin because he's one of Jeremy's friends. They both freaked out when we found out we were moving. Like it was the end of the world. I think its stupid. I mean can you imagine feeling that way about someone?" Zach shook his head and both boys failed to notice that the rest of the group suddenly looked uncomfortable.

'Is that what it means to have a girlfriend?' Booth thought. 'Feeling like the world would end if you had to leave them?' He looked a Tempe who was staring off into space.

'Does that make Booth my boyfriend?' Tempe thought. 'Cuz that pretty much sounds like what I would do if he ever left.' She smiled then and looked over at Booth who chose that very moment to look away. "He probably doesn't feel like that." She whispered, still looking at his face, which seemed to be bathed in the glow from the sun behind him.

Angela and Jack were having a similar thought process across the isle. 'hmm, always together, met through friends, world would end. Sounds like us.' Jack thought as he remembered the day he first saw Angela in Kindergarten.

_She was sitting on a swing and pumping her legs to go about twice as high as Tempe, who was on the swing next to her dared. _

"_Angela don't!" Tempe yelled. "You'll fall."_

"_Angela." Jack whispered. Then he proceeded to get off the see saw and let the kid at the other end come crashing down to earth pretty hard. He stood off to the side of the swings and watched her go higher and higher until she was bouncing out of the seat. She never seemed scared, just excited and free; but he never spoke to her until last year he met Booth who then met Tempe and Angela was ever present at her side. _

Angela remembered their first encounter a little differently.

"_Angela don't! you'll fall!" But Angela just laughed and went higher and higher until she felt like she was flying. "I'm free." She whispered. "I can fly like the birds and be free."_

As everyone was immersed in their respective memories/thoughts, the bus screeched to a halt at the end of their street. Zach nudged Jack who looked around for a minute before tapping Angela Tempe and Booth on the shoulder. They gathered their belongings with out the usual laughing and banter. Lance took notice and whispered to Zach, "What's wrong with your friends?"

"I don't know. They haven't said anything since you explained who your sisters boyfriends were. And they're your friends too. You're one of us now. " Zach smiled sarcastically.

"I didn't know five year olds could be sarcastic." One of the older boys who used to hang out with Sully said as he pushed past them at the door. "But then I guess I should expect anything from genius boy." He walked away, but not before making sure Zach had a distressed look on his face.

"What does he mean?" Lance asked. "Why did he call you genius boy, and five?"

Zach looked at the cracked sidewalk as they walked. "I was adopted last year." He started. Lance nodded. "And I am five."

Lance crinkled his eye brow. "Then how did you get into second grade?"

"I have an IQ of 144." Zach said. Lance still looked confused. "That's really high. Normal is around 109."

"Wow. that's so…"

"I know it's weird." Zach said looking down again.

"No, I was going to say that's so cool." Lance smiled and Zach looked up and smiled as well.

"Really?" Zach asked.

"Yeah, how many people get to say they have a friend who it a genius?" Lance asked.

Zach smiled. "You called me your friend."

"That's ok right?" Lance looked worried again.

"Your face is gonna freeze like that if you don't cheer up." Zach said. "And not only is it ok, it is greatly appreciated. I always felt kinda out of the loop when we were all together. Now I have a new friend."

Lance laughed and both boys ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

About fifteen minutes later everyone had checked with parents and was given the ok to go to Booth's party.

The pile of overstuffed bags was left by the door and all six kids climbed eagerly onto the chairs lined up in front of a big box of pizza. Amazingly the Booth's had managed to remember the favorite pizza topping of five very energetic and random eight year olds, and one very energetic and random five year old.

Booth dug into his sausage topped slice, and Jack followed soon after with a bite into a slice covered in twice the normal amount of cheese. Tempe and Angela took smaller bites of their own favorites. Pineapple for Angela and mushroom and green pepper for Tempe.

Zach chowed down on a slice of pepperoni, and surprisingly lance said he liked plain pizza best. Nothing fancy, just crust sauce and cheese.

"The way it was meant to be." He said causing Booth to laugh and nearly choke on a bite of cheese.

"Hey welcome to the group Lance!" Booth said when he had gotten his breath back.

Mrs. Booth wanted a picture of all of them together so everyone crowded in. Jack and Booth were both still in their seats and made funny faces. Angela and Tempe got in between them and slung their arms around each others shoulders. Zack and Lance stood in front both making peace signs with their hands.

"Oh I'm putting it with the one from last year." Mrs. Booth said as she went to print out a copy on the computer.

"What one from last year?" Lance asked.

In response everyone pointed to the mantel where in the very center was the very picture that was taken last Halloween, and the same one that Booth had shown his father to introduce all his new friends. He smiled as he remembered how itchy the superman costume was, but it was worth it. Jack had made a perfect Batman, he could easily be a young Bruce Wayne. 'Does that make me Clark Kent?' He wondered.

Well one thing for sure. He would always save his Lois Lane er, Tempe Brennen.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: K so I officially suck at regular updates. I have already attempted to kick my own butt for that and only succeeded in proving that blondes really don't have common sense. Oh and I SO EXCITED!!! I GETTED A CAR!!! YAY!!! Enjoy chapter.**

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The second day of school passed much like the first. As did the third, fourth and fifth. By the time the weekend rolled around, Booth was already bored with school. They hadn't learned anything new and he was beginning to miss having Tempe and Jack in the same class. Angela was more outgoing than the rest of the group, and she had already mad several girlfriends to get her through the days.

On Friday, after the last bell had rung for the day the gang met up in the hall before walking to their bus.

"You know we should pick a theme for Halloween now, that way we can have really great costumes this year." Angela said.

"But it's not for like two months." Jack whined. Angela smacked him lightly.

"Oh come on." She said. "It'll be fun. Maybe we can make our own costumes."

"Ooooo, that would be so fun." Tempe chimed in. "But what should we go as?"

"Well, I've been thinking," Angela said digging around in her bag. She pulled out a piece of paper that had been folded in half three or four times until it was a tight wad. She handed it to the boys who crowded in for a peek.

"What is this?" Booth asked.

"Ange," Jack said in awe. "You actually listened? All those times I babbled on about it really?"

Angela nodded.

"Will someone please tell me what this is?" Booth asked looking around at everyone.

"You don't know?" Jack asked. "It's anime."

"Ani-what?" Booth asked.

"Anime." Zach said like he was quoting the dictionary. "A style of animation first made popular in Japan, I has spread in popularity through out the world, and many artists have become very successful."

Booth looked back at the paper. There were four separate images depicting very different groups.

In the top corner, what looked like a group of ninja's with funny headbands lead by a blonde boy in a bright orange jacket stood proudly.

Next to them was a close up of a man so small he almost looked like a girl. He had red hair and a cross shaped scar on his cheek. Behind him were two dark haired women, a man and a boy.

In the bottom left a group of dark haired people stood surrounding one lone blonde man. The man wore an orange shirt and pants and his hair stuck straight up in the air. Booth couldn't help but notice that every man in this picture had incredible muscles. It just wasn't fair.

The last picture was of a boy in a green suit and a brown haired girl in a school uniform surrounded by smaller pictures of a red haired man, a blue haired girl on a broom, a short man with back hair and a boy in a blue suit with short orange hair.

"Ok." He said. "but what kind of Ani-whatever are these?"

Jack pointed to the first one. "That's Naruto. Its bout a boy who lives in a village where everyone is a ninja. The one next to it is called Rurouni Kenshin, The redhead is Kenshin, he's a samurai. See the little voice bubble? 'Oro?' Jack said imitating the characters voice. "The third one is Dragon Ball Z, its sort of, well its kind of like,"

"Its basically ripped alien men fighting other alien thingys and saving the world like five times." Angela supplied.

"Well, yeah, but you make it sound so stupid. I thought you liked it," Jack said hurt.

"I did, its just hard to sum up. And the fourth one is called Yu Yu Hakasho, dumbed down for the non anime lovers here, a kid dies in a car crash but is given a second chance to live, but he has to work for the underworld king as a spirit detective. I actually liked this one the best." Angela finished.

"You know," Tempe said looking at all the pictures, "It would be really fun to make these costumes. We should pick one."

"I've never heard of any of these." Booth said crossing his arms.

"Me neither. But it still sounds fun." Temps said smiling.

"You should all come over." Zach said. "We can have a marathon and eat popcorn and drink soda."

"Hold on." Lance said. He turned around and found his sisters sitting a few seats back. "Heather, Lea, can you tell mom that I'm at Jack's house?" He asked.

"Sure." Lea answered. "Why are you going to be at Jack's house?"

"He's showing us anime." Lance said stumbling over the word a little.

Heather looked up. "What anime?" She asked.

"Uh, I think, something called Naruto, and a few others." He said trying to remember the strangely named shows.

Heather raised her eye brows at Lea, who responded with a question of "J-pop?" (1) to which Heather responded. "J-pop."

Lance shrugged having no idea what they were talking about and, satisfied, turned back to his friends.

"I'm good." He said.

Tempe had used the time to tell Russ that she was not coming home, and Angela and Booth both said that they were allowed to go anywhere on Fridays as long as they called to let their parents know.

"Cool" Jack said. The bus arrived at their stop soon after, and everyone trooped into the Hodgens' large house, dropped their stuff and followed Jack and Zach to their TV room.

Jack dug around in the movie closet before pulling out a few boxes with funny symbols on the covers. He slipped in the first DVD and the mind melt commenced.

***

A few hours later, and everyone who hadn't known what Anime was, now at least had a taste of each proposed costume idea.

Booth had falled in love with Rurouni Kenshin and for the ast half hour, when ever there was a pause in conversation he would fill it with: 'Oro?' Tempe was about ready to strangle him, but countered it by continuously pointing out that the voice actor for a character in Yu Yu Hakasho was the same as one of the ones from Dragon Ball Z.

"We've created monsters." Angela giggled, on a bit of a sugar high from all the coke she'd had. Lance already crashed, and was now laying sleepily on one of the many cushions scattered all over the floor.

"Ok, I say we vote. All in favor of using one of these groups for our costume say yes." Jack said.

There were four yeses and a sleepy uh huh from Lance.

"Awesome, Lets do a blind vote for the actual show. Here, everyone write your choice on a slip of paper and put in in the middle." Angela said tearing a sheet of notebook paper up and passing out pencils.

Once everyone had written their choice she opened each one and placed it in a pile. "K guys, and the winner is…"

-----------------------------

**AN: CLIFF HANGER!!! Now, I know I'm going to get a million reviews saying choose this-or-that, so right now I'm going to say, VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE IN YOUR REVIEW, THE ONE WITH THE MOST VOTES WILL BE CHOSEN IN THE STORY!! So don't waste any time!! Click the review button and write me a nice happy comment. Or not so happy. I don't care. Just say something. I currently have 29 reviews on this story, and the 50****th**** reviewer still gets a spoiler and every hundredth gets to pick a scene to put in. happy reading. **


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: All right, I started this chapter a little before Halloween, but then I had to do my graduation project, and then I had play practice, and then teachers started packing in projects before thanksgiving break, (junior year sucks big time, let me tell you) and same for Christmas, so I really haven't had the energy until this very second to even attempt to finish this chapter. The next authors note was written when I started and explains my thought process. Enjoy. **

**AN: Ok, so not the response I was looking for. You guys slacked off or something, I even gave ya'll a whole month to vote so the Halloween chapter would fall sorta close to Halloween. No matter, now the voting results are **

**Rurouni Kenshin: 0 (lame, this is my second fave!)**

**Yu Yu Hakasho: 1 (still lame, third favorite)**

**Dragon Ball Z: 3 (BEST SHOW EVER!!)**

**Naruto: 3 (I just put this one in because it's so popular, I actually hate it.)**

**So we have a tie, hmm, how do I solve this…well considering it is my story, I should have the final vote, but I'm biased, I think DBZ is god in an anime, so I sent a text to one of my best friends, who is even more anime minded than me, and told her to pick one with out thinking. And the winner is…**

-------------

Angela looked at the tiny slip of paper for a long time. "And the winner is Dragon Ball Z." She raised her eye brows.

"Really?" Tempe asked, "I thought I was the only one who would vote for that one."

"Nope, me too." Jack said smiling. For some reason Angela looked un comfortable, but she quickly covered it up by smiling and shouting "I call the blue haired girl!"

"Her name is Bulma!" Jack said "for the thousandth time." He added.

"I refuse to say it. It means underwear." Angela said causing everyone to laugh.

"Well anyway, I call Vegeta!" Jack declared.

"The little guy?" Booth asked

"Hey! He's not short, he's fun sized." Angela said putting a hand protectively around Jack.

"I call the girl with the pigtails." Tempe said "I forget her name."

"You can't call someone if you don't know their name." Angela said

"Well you're underwear." Tempe shot back.

"Her last name means devil, right?" Booth asked

"Yeah, her name is Videl Satan" Zach said. "And by the way, I call Goten."

"I call the purple haired kid." Lance said smiling, "and I know his name, but I can't say it without laughing."

"Trunks Brief." Zach said, and then dissolved into a fit of giggles, "wow your right, and now I'll never be able to say that again. Thanks."

Tempe looked over to Angela and was surprised to see her looking anxiously at everyone while tearing up the slips of paper on which they had written their votes. Angela met her gaze and quickly dropped the paper into the trash can.

Tempe raised an eyebrow but Angela shook her head.

Once everyone had decided on their characters, Angela and Jack had gone with Bulma and Vegeta, and Tempe and Booth decided on Gohan and Videl, Lance and Zach were Trunks and Goten, (And for those of you who don't know what these people look like, Google it. Lol.) It was getting late, and they decided to get going.

On the way home, Tempe still noticed the strange turn in Angela's mood, but decided against saying anything.

Angela, looked over toward Tempe and waved good night before closing the front door, and running straight into her father.

"Daddy! You're home!" She exclaimed joyfully jumping into his arms,

"Hey sweetie, I missed you too." He smiled "How was school?"

"School was school, but after school, we all went to Jack's house and picked our Halloween costumes." At this moment, she suddenly looked forlorn again.

Mr. Montenegro knew his daughter well. "Angie, what's wrong?" he asked, in a tone that said "don't lie to me."

Angela fiddled with her shirt hem, and stalled.

"Ange, come on, what happened." He pressed.

"You'll be mad." She whispered.

"Sweet pea, I wont be mad, just tell me." He said again.

"Well, we decided to pick a group theme again this year, and me and Jack came up with some ideas, they were all his favorite Anime shows." Seeing the confusion on her fathers face, she explained. "Its like cartoons from Japan. Anyway, we got everyone to watch some of them, and then everyone voted for their favorites." By this time she was whispering and tears started forming. "And, I knew how much jack wanted Dragon Ball Z to win, but everyone voted for Naruto, so I counted out the slips, and I said the wrong one, on purpose. Daddy I lied to my friends, and lying is bad, you said so. I feel really bad, but I want Jack to be happy." Her tears were flowing heavily now.

"Angie, calm down. Just calm down." Her father rocked her back and fourth for a few minutes until she cried herself out.

"Are you mad?" She asked, still hiccupping a little.

"Angie, I'm not mad, I'm a little disappointed, but I'm also proud because you know what you did was wrong." He smiled kindly

"So what are you going to do?" She asked.

"Why should I do anything, you got yourself into this mess, and I think you know how to get out of it."

"I don't know if I should tell everyone, or if they'll be mad at me." Angela said.

"I think if you tell them you are sorry, and explain why you did it, I think they'll understand.

Angela nodded, and finally smiled.

"All right, now I think I smell your mom's chicken teriyaki! Lets go get some!" Angela scampered down and ran to the kitchen where her mother had just finished setting the table for three.

"Soon I'm going to need another plate." She said positively beaming.

"Why?" Angela said helping herself to dinner.

"Well, sweetie, you know that your father and I love you so much, and we do everything for you?" She asked sitting down.

"Well, yeah, I love you guys too, but why does that mean you are going to need another plate?"

"Ange, how would you feel about a new baby?" Her mother asked.

This stopped both Angela and her father with their forks half way to their mouths.

"Honey, are you saying that…" Mr. Montenegro trailed off.

"Mommy, are you gonna have a baby?" Angela asked suddenly feeling like her throat was closing up.

Her mother nodded smiling broadly.

Angela suddenly pushed her plate away and ran up to her room. She slammed the door before throwing her head into her pillows and sobbing.

'Why?' she thought, 'Don't they love me enough? We're perfect, we don't need another baby!'

Soon after this, came a knock on the door. "Ange, sweetie can I come in?" asked her mother's voice.

Angela did not respond, but heard the door open anyway. Her feet dipped a little as her mother sat on the foot of the bed.

"Are you mad at me?" Mrs. Montenegro asked her daughter.

Angela shrugged but did not turn to look at her.

"I think I understand, a new baby is scary, 'will mom and dad like it better than me?' 'Why am I not good enough?'" She said echoing Angela's thoughts just moments before.

"Why _am _I not good enough?" Angela asked.

"Angie, its not that at all, I love you more than my own life, and this new baby can never change that. Did you stop loving daddy and me just because you met your friends?"

"No" Angela admitted finally sitting up.

"No, you made more love to go around, and we can too, love doesn't have a limit, and you can always make more. And I know you can help make enough love to make this baby as happy as he or she can be."

"Ok, its just that, I'm afraid, I'll hate it, I'm afraid of being jealous." Angela said ashamed.

"Well, sweetie you have nine months to get used to it, and I hope that by that time you will finally understand what we mean." Her mother smiled.

"I think I do understand mom, and I'm really excited." Angela said, sounding a little happier than she felt, but not much. 'Maybe this won't be such a bad thing after all.' She thought.

************

**AN: So since I missed Halloween by like two months, I'm going to glaze over that part and jump closer to Christmas next chapter, and if anyone thinks that the voting was biased, well it was, but it was your own fault that I had to vote at all, if I had a better response it would have turned out different, maybe. **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Just read the chapter, I have an excuse for not updating at the end :/**

Halloween was adorable as always, but now winter had officially moved in and Tempe was excited for Christmas.

Since everyone was spread out over the grade this year, they decided to do their own gift exchange.

Unfortunately their parents placed a five dollar limit per person, so presents were a bit hard to come by in the price range.

That is until a new store opened at the mall.

"Mom, can we go shopping today?" Tempe asked one day in mid December.

Christine looked around the house and sighed at the pile of laundry the needed folding and the mountain of dishes that had yet to be cleaned.

"Sweetie can it wait?"

"No mama, I have to get presents for all my friends for Christmas."

Christine was about to answer 'later', when she saw the look in Tempe's eyes. 'I had to have a little girl.' she thought to herself.

"Ok, lets go." She smiled wiping her hands on her jeans.

"I heard about a new store at the mall called 5 Below." Tempe smiled "Can we go there?"

Christine nodded, but as she reached for her keys the phone rang. She rolled her eyes making Tempe giggle and answered it. "Brennan house."

Her smile slid off her face and was replaced by a concerned frown. "Ok calm down Lydia, yes, of course we'll come right away."

Tempe knew that Lydia was Jack's mom's name, and judging by the look on her own mothers face, something bad had happened.

"Mom, what's going on?" She asked.

"Sweetie we're going to have to postpone our shopping trip. Come on, everyone is meeting at Jacks house, we'll explain there."

Curiously Tempe followed her mom to the car. Usually they just walked, but when Christine said they'd be right there, she meant it.

The short car ride was tense, Tempe knew her mom was upset, but didn't want to bother her until she understood what was happening.

The door was opened by Mr. Hodgins, who looked like he had seen better days.

"Hello" His voice sounded hollow, like he hadn't slept in a while.

"James, are you ok?" Christine asked placing a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"I've been better. Chris." He turned and led them into the warm living room, that was full of people by this point.

Tempe recognized all her friends and their parents, and there was also a man she had never seen sitting in one of the arm chairs, and a nice looking woman whispering something to him. They both wore business suits.

The man looked up when they entered. "Ah, this must be Temperance, and her lovely mother. Sit sit." He gestured to the already crowded couches.

They sat. The man stood and addressed the room. "As some of you may know, the time for the Addys trial has finally come around. Now they are going for a novel defense of not guilty my reason of temporary insanity over the loss of their son. Now this is an absolutely ludicrous notion as they were sane enough to-" He broke off as he saw the children's confused faces.

"Let me start at the beginning. My name is Mike Cassidy and this is my associate Anita Haywood. We work in the prosecution office for this county, and we're in charge of making sure the Addys go to jail. Basically the reason we called all of you here is so we can talk over the idea of the children testifying."

Predictably all present parents began an uproar.

"They're in second grade!" Mrs. Montenegro pointed out.

"Can they be cross examined, I think that would be too upsetting!" Added Mr. Booth.

"Haven't they been through enough?" Mrs. Brennan asked.

"It's nearly Christmas." Said Mrs. Hodgins quietly. "They couldn't wait until after the holidays?"

"Unfortunately the Addys have a right to a speedy trial." Reasoned Mr. Cassidy.

"What's 'testify'? Angela asked.

"It means they want us to speak at the trial." Zach said from his place in his mother's lap. "Right Mr. Cassidy?"

"That's right son, and call me Mike, I feel old when I hear Mr. Cassidy."

Booth turned to his dad. "You've testified before right?" He asked.

David Booth smiled at his son, "Yes, but I don't think I want you to." He turned to the pair of lawyers. "In the kindest way possible I'm saying I'll fight a court order if it comes to that. I don't want my son on display to be attacked by a defense attorney.

"I'm sorry to say it may come to that, Mr. Booth. The children were the only actual witnesses to the kidnapping."

Mrs. Montenegro placed one hand on Angela's knee and the other on her own stomach, where it was becoming clear she was expecting. "I don't like it." She said.

The woman lawyer took this opportunity to stand and say "How about I take the kids into the other room and let you parents talk this over."

She headed all the kids towards the less formal den, and sat cross-legged on the floor with them.

She seemed to relax, and didn't even try to dust the cat hair off her black pants when Jack's mane-coon settled in her lap. She stroked the animal softly and looked at each of them in turn.

"So, do any of you know what happens at a trial?" She asked.

They all shook their heads.

"Well, it's kind of like a game. Everyone has to wait their turn to talk. The judge is like the referee, he can kick you out of the game if you break the rules. Mike and I are called the prosecution, the Addys and their lawyer will be called the defendants. If you all come to the trial, you'll be on our team."

"What do we have to do?" Jack asked.

"Well, you have to tell the truth, that's the big thing. If you lie, the judge will be angry and you could get in trouble. Mike or I will ask you questions, we get to practice before hand so you know what to say, then the Addys lawyer gets to ask questions, all you have to do is tell the truth.

"What kind of questions?" asked Booth.

"Well I don't know what the other guy will ask, but all Mike and I want to know is about your friendship. The five of you are very close, I'm told.

They all nodded.

"Most of our questions will be about your connections with the Hodgins boys here." She gestured to Jack and Zach who smiled at being addressed as such.

"Can the Addys talk to us?" Zach asked.

"No, only their lawyer can speak unless the judge says it's ok."

"Why don't our parents want us to do it?" Tempe asked.

Anita thought for a minute. "Because it's going to be a little scary." She finally said honestly. "The other lawyer will try to confuse you and make you mess up what you want to say. It's a lot easier for him to win because we have to prove that the Addys were in their normal state of mind when they took Jack. All he has to do is prove there is a possibility they were not."

"The burden of proof." Zach reasoned.

"That's right." Anita smiled at him. "With that kind of smarts you'd do well in law school." She laughed.

"Mom calls him a prodigy." Jack said stumbling over the word.

Just as the atmosphere felt more relaxed, Mike came into the room and sighed. "The parents are stonewalling me. We're going to need court orders for all of them."

Anita nodded, and turned to follow him. "I'm sorry about all of this kids, really." Then both lawyers left them alone to soak in everything that had unfolded.

**AN: Ok, I finally updated. I would have been earlier this month, but something pretty upsetting happened that kind of made me not want to write for a while. Someone added one of my other stories to a community they created to catalogue stories they think are bad. It's called 'the bad the worse and the just plain ugly', and I've been fighting with the guy over PM for about a week to get him to delete the community because its offensive to us writers. Anyway I feel vindicated because after our last round of polite argument I finally got him to admit that he has no concrete reasoning for placing stories in his community (at least his exact words were 'I don't feel like telling you' so I was like I win!). Feel free to politely ask that he remove the community, or at least change the name to something less offensive. Well that's the insanely short version of why I didn't update in so long, Message me or ask in a review and I'll explain further, cuz it really is upsetting and any support would be greatly appreciated. **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Some people have been complaining that I hould have a recap if I'm going to take so long between chapters. To that I respond as follows:**

**Kindly click the little button on the bottom and go back a chapter. And if you don't want to do that, then why the (insert swear word here) are you reading my fic? **

Once the attorneys left, the group sat in silence for a while, each mulling over the prospect of what exactly was expected of them, should they end up testifying. Finally Mrs. Brennan entered the den and motioned for Tempe to follow her.

Tempe was reluctant to move, but trotted after her mother. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"Home, I need to talk to your father." Christine answered. She sounded exhausted.

"Mama…" Tempe asked looking up at her, "What is a 'court order'?"

Christine stopped walking and smiled at her daughter, but Tempe could tell that she was not happy, her eyes still looked sad. "Nothing you need to worry about yet hon. Ok?"

"Max, I don't want her up there like a sacrificial lamb!" Christine exclaimed angrily slamming a pan down.

"Chris, listen to reason!" Mr. Brennan replied somewhat calmer. "The attorneys need her testimony to put the kidnappers of one of her best friends in jail. They have said they will get a court order if we don't agree, I just think that the legal system works better when all the players are on the same team."

Tempe heard more muffled thumping which she supposed was her parents making dinner, it was hard to tell through the floor of her room.

Russ walked by the door and stared at her, which by all rights was not so unexpected. She was currently sprawled out on the purple carpet of her bedroom with her ear cupped to the floor trying to eavesdrop on her parents.

"What cha doin?" Russ asked cocking an eyebrow, an impressive feat for a ten year old.

"Listenin." Tempe muttered frowning as still more muffled thumps were heard.

"So do you want to do it?" Russ asked, drifting closer to the door, but not entering her room.

By this point Tempe gave up trying to overhear the conversation, and sat up to face Russ. "I don't know." She said pulling at a string on her jeans. "I want the Addys to go to jail, but I'm scared."

"you should do it then." Russ said shrugging. As any boy his age would have believed, it was a simple yes or no choice.

"But what if I mess up and they get to go free?" Tempe asked.

"I don't know what to tell you to do, but I do know that it's a lot easier to hear Mom and Dad from the hall outside the bathroom, just bring something small you can say you were picking up if one of them catches you on the ground." He smirked and turned to leave.

Tempe was a little shocked that Russ seemed to actually care enough to give her real advice, usually he smirked and said something smart before walking away. This side of him was rare, but sweet.

The next day was a Monday, and the start of the last week before the holidays. Tempe met Angela and Booth at the bus stop and found out that similar scenes had been played out in both of their houses the previous night.

"My dad says there is no way I'm testifying." Booth said stumbling over the long word.

"My mom said that too, but my dad thinks I should." Tempe shrugged. "Something about us all being on the same team."

Tempe shrugged and the conversation turned to other topics as the bus came to a stop and they climbed on. A few minutes later the bus stopped at the end of Zach and Jack's street, and the brothers took their seats as well.

"So what did your parents say?" Tempe asked.

"Mom says we should, but dad doesn't want us to." Jack said. "How about you guys?"

"Same." Everyone nodded.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Angela sighed. "It makes my head hurt, and makes me sad." she sank down into her seat and rested her forehead on the window staring out into the early morning sun.

"I liked Anita." Tempe smiled, "she was nice."

"Yeah, I hope if we do have to testify then she'll be the one asking questions." Booth agreed.

"I said stop talking about it!" Angela snapped, and turned away from them again.

Tempe understood her reluctance to think about the painful time last spring, but she also wondered why Angela seemed so much more upset than even Jack.

Later, in Mrs. Brison's room, Booth noticed Angela still seemed very out of sorts, apparently Mrs. Brison noticed too, because during quiet reading time, she took Angela into the hall.

"Honey, are you ok?" She asked, her voice had a soft southern twang.

Angela looked at her feet and played with her hair. "Um hmm" She muttered.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" She prodded.

Angela's eyes watered, and she sniffled, but shook her head.

Mrs. Brison smiled sadly and nodded. "Ok then." She turned to re enter the classroom.

"I'm scared." Angela whispered.

Mrs. Brison turned around. "Of what sweetie?" She knelt down to Angela's level, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Angela sniffed a few more times and wiped her eyes. "The Addys." She said at last.

Mrs. Brison nodded in recognition, of course she knew the story, she doubted there was a teacher at this school who didn't.

"You're friends with Jack Hodgins aren't you?" She asked.

Angela nodded. "They took him." She said, voice quivering. "Now we have to go through it again, all because that stupid lawyer wants us to testify."

Mrs. Brison raised her eyebrows at the use of the big word. "I see, you don't want to be near them again."

"Their gonna make Jack sad and scared again." Angela whispered.

"From what I can see, Jack Hodgins is a strong little boy, and you are a great friend to him, especially now that he needs friends. Angie, don't worry so much, your too little to try and carry the world on your shoulders."

"I don't wanna carry the world, I just want Jack to be happy." Angela said confused.

"Don't worry about Jack, ok? He'll be fine." Mrs. Brison smiled and pulled a tissue out of her pocket. She handed it to Angela. "No more tears now all right?"

Angela smiled sadly and followed her back into the classroom. She picked up her book and sat down near Booth on the colorful reading carpet, but didn't read.

"I wanna do it." She whispered.

She heard Booth inhale sharply, and knew he had heard, and understood.

For a few minutes they said nothing, and Angela calmed down enough to actually read some of her book. Just as she was getting to a good part, a sound caught her attention, Booth had inhaled again.

"Me too." He whispered.

**AN: Well I can safely say that you all probably want to strangle me slowly to the brink of death, and then make me update a few times lol. And I guess I deserve it, my only excuse for not writing is LIFE! It gets in the way of everything. I have work then I went camping and had no internet, I go away on the weekends and have limited internet, my computer gets PMS and randomly drops the wifi signal, and oh yeah I had a case of writers black like you wouldn't believe…**


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